As Drug War Chronicle publishes its last issue of the year -- we will be on vacation next week -- it is time to look back at 2006. Both here at home and abroad, the year saw significant progress on various fronts, from marijuana law reform to harm reduction advances to the rollback of repressive drug laws in Europe and Latin America. Below -- in no particular order -- is our necessarily somewhat arbitrary list of the ten most significant victories and advances for the cause of drug law reform. (We also publish a top ten most significant defeats for drug law reform in 2006 below.)

Marijuana possession stays legal in Alaska. A 1975 Alaska Supreme Court case gave Alaskans the right to possess up to a quarter-pound of marijuana in the privacy of their homes, but in 1991, voters recriminalized possession. A series of court cases this decade reestablished the right to possess marijuana, provoking Gov. Frank Murkowski to spend two years in an ultimately successful battle to get the legislature to re-recriminalize it. But in July, an Alaska Superior Court threw out the new law's provision banning pot possession at home. The court did reduce the amount to one ounce, and the state Supreme Court has yet to weigh in, but given its past rulings, there is little reason to think it will reverse itself.

The Higher Education Act (HEA) drug provision is partially rolled back. In the face of rising opposition to the provision, which bars students with drug convictions -- no matter how trivial -- from receiving federal financial assistance for specified periods, its author, leading congressional drug warrior Rep. Mark Souder, staged a tactical retreat. To blunt the movement for full repeal, led by the Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform, Souder amended his own provision so that it now applies only to students who are enrolled and receiving federal financial aid at the time they commit their offenses. Passage of the amended drug provision in February marks one of the only major rollbacks of drug war legislation in years.

The election of Evo Morales brings coca peace to Bolivia. When coca-growers union leader Morales was elected president in the fall of 2004, the country's coca farmers finally had a friend in high office. While previous years had seen tension and violence between cocaleros and the government's repressive apparatus, Morales has worked with the growers to seek voluntary limits on production and, with financial assistance from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, begun a program of research on the uses of coca and the construction of factories to turn it into tea or flour. All is not quiet -- there have been deadly clashes with growers in Las Yungas in recent months -- but the situation is greatly improved from previous years.

Brazil stops imprisoning drug users. Under a new drug law signed by President Luis Inacio "Lula" Da Silva in August, drug users and possessors will not be arrested and jailed, but cited and offered rehabilitation and community service. While the new "treatment not jail" law keeps drug users under the therapeutic thumb of the state, it also keeps them out of prison.

Minus - The House of Hemp is still largely divided on a number of hemp issues. They can't seem to see that its in the best interest of hemp that all things hemp be legalized.

Minus - For the life of me I can't understand why the Medical Marijuana people aren't also promoting the more extensive use of Marinol.

If anything appears to be an All Purpose Capsule, Marinol seems to be it. To name a few, it's an effective pain reliever and ought to replace Tylenol, Asprin and Ibuprofen. Marinol appears to have no adverse side effects likes these pain relievers do.

Marinol apparently protects against strokes. Seniors ought to be routinely prescribed Marinol for its protective benefits.

Marinol apparently is good for epilepsy control. Would it also be effective in controlling diabetic or hypoglycemic seizures?

Plus - Marijuana is now the number one agriculture crop in the US. Its sales exceeds that of corn, wheat, soybeans and vegetables combined.

Minus - The Congress lacks the cahones, moral backbone, ethical fiber, American values and common sense to legalize all things hemp and derive revenue from the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana.

"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government."

Not being familiar with it, I can't comment on the specific effects of marinol, but I would welcome any pain reliever with less side effects.However I can understand why "medical marijuana people" are slow to promote it, as more and more people as realizing every day that the large pharmacutical companies and their man-made drugs can't be trusted.Their purpose is not to cure, but to treat with drugs which create more and different (sometimes deadly) sicknesses, with the primary purpose of separating you and I from our money.At some point there will be enough people curing holistically and eating organically they will be be forced to admit that they can't keep pumping us full of toxins.After all,I don't know about your locallity,around here where the consensus used to be "pay it no mind, it doesn't matter what you consume in small amounts",has changed to "Wow! Why are so many people getting cancer?"Because of this I have been educating myself, and have found that 99 times out of 100 their is a natural and/or nutritional solution to preventing if not curing almost anything.I suspect that many of the proponents of medicinal marijuana are wise enough to also fall into this category.

The use of marijuana is and has been with us for long enough to have proven itself as a benign and efficacious substance.
The laws governing it are new, poisonous and harsh to the sprit.
If my tomatoes were governed by a committee of meat-eaters in a distant and alien place, I would still eat them because I like them.
I love my pot and it was worth going to jail over it just to learn a little about the system; I learned that the laws have nothing to do with it and all to do with money. So long as the big pharmas are trying to prove its' worth, marijuana will continue to hold its' place; there is no such thing as bad publicity.
Taking pot off the criminal code could free up some money and manpower (and cell space) to accommodate the violent, the hateful, the fanatic, as well as the hungry and cold and ill.
"All things hemp..." Bring it on!

Does anyone know the regulatory nature of Marinol in Mexico i.e., if one has a US prescription, can one go down and purchase Marinol in Mexico? I am guessing that transport of the medication across US boarders is going into murkier waters, but if it consumed in Mexico, I wonder if it can be dispensed?...
Any help or advice would is greatly needed and appreciated.